The Halloween Kids (TV series)
The Halloween Kids is a Canadian-American TV series that aired from 2000-2002 on KidsWB! in the US and YTV in Canada. It was produced by Saath, in association with Nelvana Limited and Warner Bros. Animation. Plot The show is set in the fictional Belbury Village (said to be in a state right on the boarder between the US and Canada). Belbury is home to relatively weird individuals, and is said to have been founded by social outcasts and freaks as their own sanctuary. The "weird ones" and the "norms" live in harmony, but often go separately depending on certain circumstances. In general, the series focuses on The Halloween Kids, a group of children who live in Belbury and investigate supernatural occurrences, experimentations and myths, intervening when necessary. They are unknowingly spied upon by the Elites, an illuminati-esque group proceeded over by the most influential students at Belbury Middle School. Characters The Halloween Kids The Halloween Kids are a gang of children encompassing multiple personalities and means of handling situations. When conceiving the characters, Strange claimed that the usage of a large main cast was done to focus on a family dynamic, where all development effects the group who put aside their hierarchal differences for the good of their home town. Their biggest connection is that fact that all were born in October, and are descendants of supernatural beings that laid the groundwork for Woodrot's foundation. While they had no recollection of their original upbringing, they felt the need to remain together and solve all supernatural issues in their town. They were virtually unchanged from their book counterpart. *'Alison Meeks (Mae Whitman):' The leader of the Halloween Kids, hailing from Darien, Connecticut. Alison is a spunky talkative girl and the leader of the Halloween Kids. She is knowledgeable on everything obscure or irrelevant to what's currently happening, with a varying payoff. Since she was the first to discover the club's first monster, she had leeway in becoming their leader. She wears shades frequently, implied to occur due to some kind of eye disorder. *'Colleen Dixon (Melissa Fahn):' Colleen is Alison's best friend. Like Alison, Colleen was originally from America, hailing from Denver, Colorado. Colleen is a somewhat shy girl who takes on a deadpan persona when she's forced to interact with others. She often gives sarcastic one-liners whenever the situation demands it. Colleen stuck with Alison because the latter understood her better and is helping build her self-esteem. Both she and Alison were considered social outcasts because of their weird behavior, as well as the other kids needing an outlet to let out their frustrations after getting tormented by the older kids but soon win their respect. Colleen has 12 siblings and lives with a single father, her mother dying as a consequence of birthing so many children within the span of a few months. *'Gaylord “Sparky” and Brighton Dobson (Peter Kelamis and David Paul Grove respectively):' Identical twin nerds. They try to rationalize everything with logic, but get turned away almost every time. Dante and Damien have a psychological hold over Sparky, since the latter maces Sparky when he gets too annoying. Brighton hates confrontation and tries to maintain peace between them and the bullies, but backs down when anyone threatens him. While highly intelligent, they have no grasp on chemical-oriented experiments, something that Liz outs them in. The other kids hardly understand Sparky, so Brighton takes on the role of translator. *'Sam Bliss (Julie Lemieux):' A girl who's into magic and planting and is also a bookworm. It's revealed that she's a witch, but she keeps it under wraps so she could make friends easier and maintain a normal life. Sam is a bit of a hippie, frequently going out into nature and tending to her own greenhouse. She is often the victim of pranks and various annoyances spurred by Julie and Devlin, but she tries not to let them get to her. *'Julie Dallow (Jenn Forgie):' A punk girl who often takes the role of a contrarian. She employs a punk-like look and used to be a prominent street rat until she got the chance to turn her life around. Julie holds a strong moral compass and sticks up for much weaker individuals, though she tends to be very sarcastic to most people. It's revealed that she not only works for the Halloween Kids, but for the Elites as well, giving the latter info on the former and assuring them that the Halloween Kids won't become like their ancestors. Julie was the most popular character in the series. *'Jenny Lipstone (Carrie Finlay):' A perpetually naive girl whom because of her slow wit is the source of mockery from other students, which thankfully doesn't hold a negative effect on her. She has a crush on Jerry, which stemmed from him defending her when she misheard something her teacher said. Jenny is also a very nice girl, though she's often too nice for her own good. It's revealed that Jenny is an alien who was sent to Earth due to miscommunication between her parents and their overlord. Overtime she lost her alien attributes and is now adjusting to Earth's customs with help from Jerry. *'Jerry Sandoval (Ian James Corlett):' A cowardly boy with good intentions, seen the most with Julie and Jenny. Unbeknownst to Jenny, he has a crush on her too, namely because he felt she was too naive to see his worst qualities. He tends to be a bit egomaniacal and is very impatient, which prevents him from making any newer friends, but deep down he seeks lasting friendship. Jenny seems to be the only person he could be himself around. *'Becky Proctor (Lisa Ng):' Becky was born on a farm and is somewhat naive to city culture, but she finds her way through constant help from the Halloween Kids. She was the daughter of the founder of the Cult of Wolves and shared her father's misanthropic view of humanity until she met the Halloween Kids, whom encouraged her to give humanity a second chance. Becky kept her werewolf affliction with the intent of using it for good. Under this guise she is more headstrong and arrogant. She seems to have developed a crush on Randall. *'Emily Blythe (Britt Irvin):' A nerdy girl who was infamous for throwing her former friends under the bus to avoid scrutiny. Everyone hated her and bullied her relentlessly, but it all came to a heed after a lab accident mutated her, along with Julie. The kids, with the aid of Stephy while she herself was afflicted help her and induct her into their group. Since then, she has tried to better herself and seems to have succeeded, though she still fears she will return to old habits. Emily has a love for acting and science. In the second season, Emily changes her outfit. The Perrino Elites The Perrino Elites are a secret society, one of the most feared in Alison's school. They exist to provide a protection racket for the more dominant social groups, namely bullies (preferably bullies with higher intelligence than others), divas, jocks and those with professional connections. They would seek anyone who annoys them and punish them based on the extent of their misdeed. In the books, they were an illuminati-esque group who closely monitored the activities of the Halloween Kids, believing that they will carry on the sinister legacy of their ancestors. Alison and the leader, Francis, became friends near the end of the first season, but Francis used this to closely monitor her and her group. * Francis Perrino (Antoinette Spolar): The leader of the Elites, best identified by her large head sporting a bulging vein. Francis is a well-rounded yet strict leader who at first despised the Halloween Kids, unbeknownst to them, but later changed her mind after seeing they weren’t a threat to school safety and especially since Alison saved her. She would often aid the Halloween Kids, provided she shares their desire to go through with whatever’s proposed. Francis is an aspiring director and is loosely based on Louis Peraino. She's from Montgomery, Alabama. * Ashley Yorke (Amber Hood): Grew up in Kentucky, but later moved to Connecticut due to her parents believing that the former wasn't worth living in. She tends to be cocky, especially when it comes to competitive events and is also a very hard player, but she lacks humility, especially when she's on the losing end. Ashley used to be Alison's best friend but both grew apart over the years, not helped by Ashley's competitive nature, but eventually became friends with Fiona. She suffers from arachnophobia. * Fiona Atkins (Sandy Fox): Francis' other friend. Fiona seems to lack mental stability, showing no reluctance to bring about cruel and unusual punishments to anyone who crosses Francis or any of the other elites. Also tends to act like a dog, something she does to get attention. She is revealed to be poor and lives in a trailer park. Fiona is part-Polish and originally came from Arkansas. * Ruth Dinsdale (Tara Sands): A rarely-seen friend of Francis. She has an affinity for producing artwork and is often tasked with drawing mugshots or making a visual reference for whomever tasks her. Ruth has a disturbing habit of rolling her eyes into the back of her head and manically cackling while drawing, something she claims cuts down on distractions. Ruth was born in Laurel, Mississippi, but was soon abandoned by her parents in Louisiana and raised by alligators, giving her bizarre facial features. *'Angela Asbrew (Alyson Court):' A bully and female foil to Dante and Damien, though she generally keeps to herself. She is cruel to her younger cousin Pamela, spurred by her uncle's favoritism toward her. Angela is an anti-authority individual, which she keeps secret to avoid causing trouble for herself. Angela ran away from her home after a fight with her parents, spurred by her temper and thick-headedness and now lives with her uncle. She used to be good friends with Georgina, but both grew apart overtime and Angela became more of a loner until she was able to make a stagnant friendship. She's the niece of the mayor. *'Dante Ahrens (Tony Sampson):' A self-proclaimed ladies man, who frequently flirts with Julie and (later) Stephy, leading to embarrassing circumstances. He is generally hot-tempered and takes his frustrations out on his friend Damien. Dante seems to be the top coordinator for the bullies and always finds ways to justify any misdeeds he and his friends become part of. Dante's appearance seems to be modeled after Chevelle vocalist Pete Loeffler. *'Georgina Sutcliffe (Tabitha St. Germain):' The school diva. Georgina originally hailed from Yorkshire and was a sheltered, boarding school attendee from a well-off family until they lost ownership of the school. They moved to New Brunswick to start a new life and their daughter would be forced to attend public school. Georgina is a girly-girl, slightly naive due to her still-developing grip on the middle-class town and is fairly nasty, looking down on people she deemed to be of poor taste. A running gag throughout the series is that Georgina always gets hit in the head by a ball. *'Phoebe Corkery (Erin Fitzgerald):' Georgina's best friend. Her appearance and social skills conflict with Georgina's standards, but she makes up for it in being much crueler. Phoebe is a misanthropic, manipulative and sociopathic girl who has managed to get her way by any means possible, particularly to get out of whatever trouble she's in. Her disgust for the world stems from the death of one of her closest friends, one she felt she could've prevented. Beyond that, she doesn't hold contempt toward the Elites or the Halloween Kids. *'Elizabeth Kitrosser, Dolly Hellman and Suzy Yuzna (Chantal Strand, Ashley Taylor and Chiara Zanni respectively):' Part of Georgina's posse, though more often they're seen independently from her and seem to care more for their own friendship than their connection to Georgina. Elizabeth enjoys monster movies and is the president of the school's film club, and is the more intelligent of the three. Dolly has a valley-girl dialect, constantly relying on others to get her up to speed on what's happening and is only able to chip in quips of agreement with the two. Suzy has a somewhat deep voice an affinity for fishing and brings the two with her on her father's boat so she won't be lonely, and is also more coolheaded. All of their last names are taken from the directors of the final three Silent Night, Deadly Night movies. *'Randall Bench (Richard Ian Cox):' A business savvy and snobbish boy. He is cold and manipulative, harboring a strong love for money and power. He often issues punishments for those that cross the Elites in a bad way, yet he does his best to make sure they fit the crime. Randall has a love interest in Becky. Georgina serves as his on and off rival. Randall is a descendent of one of Woodrot's founders. *'Tiberius Kurt (Daniel DeSanto):' A jock who's part of the school's football team. He is a strategic thinker and serves as a bodyguard alongside Dante and Damien. He's a stickler for fair play and victory, but he doesn't possess the same mentality as other jocks, preferring to keep to himself and improvise when it comes to on-field procedures. *'Leland Williams (Dexter Bell):' Another member of the football team, albeit as a towel boy and equipment manager. He manages to be much smarter than the other jocks which, along with his connection to a dating hotline (his mother reportedly works as a caller there), enables him to maintain a stranglehold on the football team. Flip seems to be desperate to do as little work as possible, preferring to take shortcuts, but unlike others who feel this way he's a lot more subtle about it. It's implied that he's a nationalist who hates his own race. He's part Egyptian and lived in Memphis, Tennessee. *'Tommy Kadic (Kath Soucie):' Marie's twin brother. He was once respected by the other kids back when Alison and Colleen were social outcasts, but after they solved their first case with the two girls, the kids abandoned Tommy especially since he maintained his allegiance to the root of the case, only to change his mind after getting inducted into the Elites. He often speaks in an eloquent fashion. *'Marie Kadic (Sarah Gadon):' Tommy's twin sister, who has the ability to advance her strength following an unwitting banishment to the Pixel Dimension. She served as the antagonist in the first episode, but redeemed herself after saving the Halloween Kids from the Werewolf Cult. Marie is a tomboy who loves video games and baseball (even carries her own baseball and bat, which she affectionately named Les and Paul respectively.) She helps the Halloween Kids more often than the Perrino Associates, and represents the middle ground between both. *'Gloria Snute (Carly McKillip):' A snob who used to be Georgina's second in command, but got beaten out by Phoebe. She is shown to be far more snobbish than Georgina, but lacks common sense, leaving her prone to getting in trouble or having her plans backfire. Gloria's the only noteworthy "norm" in the series, and got into the Elites on a technicality after proving her usefulness in getting information. *'Devlin Costich (Matt Hill):' Sam's next door neighbor and Damien's replacement. Like Sam, he also possesses supernatural powers and serves as a friendly rival to her. He tends to be annoying, especially to Sam, but he only does it if he likes someone since he lacks the courage to better express himself. *'Jean Hetrick (Maria Bamford):' The self-proclaimed queen of the playground at Belbury Middle School. Jean is a ruthless leader, but people stuck with her because she proved to be more tolerable than competing ones, and is able to come up with reliable plans. The Elites previously served as a protection racket for her, but Jean became an Elite, albeit during field-work operations. *'Katie Sue Taylor (Nika Futterman):' Jean's only friend. Katie Sue is a small, weak girl who makes up for both by being fast and strong-willed. She is willing to follow Jean's orders and always follows through to the best conclusions. It's implied that she has a crush on Jean. The Raven Stakes A now retired supernatural investigation team who laid the groundwork for the foundation of Belbury. They grew apart following a devastating attack on what turned out to be innocent spirits who wanted to aid the Stakes. One of the members were sent to the Detendimension as a last-ditch effort to seal away the spirits of G.R.A.Z.. * Kerry Hubbard (Richard Newman): The mayor of Woodroot, and the uncle/father of Angela and Pamela respectively. He served as an aid to the leader of the Stakes, but amidst a stagnating war, the leader lost his mind and fed info to Kerry that nurtured their breakup. The experience left him embittered and reluctant to talk about his past. He often engages in bizarre activities such as frequent campouts and making sculptures, which he disguises as symptoms from a midlife crisis. * Curtis Kadic (Roger Dunn): He's the principal at the kids' school and is the father of Tommy and Marie. Curtis is an eccentric and strict individual, but is also reasonable. He seems to have it out for the Halloween Kids but begrudgingly asks for help solving issues that usually effect him and the school. Curtis used to be part of the Raven Stakes, but blaming Kerry for the coup, he dropped out and opted to try and make a simple living for himself, which got compromised when G.R.A.Z. possessed his wife and made her leave him. He is spiteful toward Kerry and refuses to be friends with anyone, electing to spend more time with his children. * Lars Perrino (Danny Wells): Francis' father and the current successor to the Perrino estate. He got convicted following the disbandment of the Stakes due to mounting charges from his mafia days, but got out after agreeing to a plea bargain where he would reveal the locations of still-active members of his crime family. He served his family and the Stakes and is very similar to his daughter in terms of interests and means of operating. * Tito Perrino (Len Carlson): Lars' father who held the same mentality as the Elites back during the heyday of the Stakes. He agreed to not go after any member of the Stakes since Lars was a member and would prevent them from interfering with whatever Tito had planned. In his prime, Tito was a feared man, but gradually lost his grip on the town following numerous failures. * Ned Gamble (Hiro Kanagawa, imitating Jerry Seinfeld): The brains of the team. He rarely speaks unless it's to someone of an equal intellect. He has a bit of an ego problem and tends to annoy the other members just by being present in the room, so to annoy him back, they often laugh off whatever ideas he has, so long as they could salvage a plan of their own. Became a math teacher at Woodrot Jr. High. * Bob Sheppard (Howard Jerome): The team's brawn. For a time, he was the strongest man in Woodrot, best known for his dexterity and better resistance to pain. He was later involved in a car accident that nearly crippled him and demoted himself to cooking, allowing him time to recover. He became a history teacher at Woodrot Jr. High. * Boris Slaatsky (Long John Baldry): A Russian-Canadian who acts as a disguise specialist. He is able to maintain many personalities, which enable him to pull off whatever disguise he has on for the day. Boris was reportedly the one person who realized the leader of the Stakes was losing his grip on reality, so he turned it on Boris and made the others alienate him. He got trapped in the Detendimension in an attempt to stop the Stake's leader, but was later rescued. Cuda Network A gathering of teens based in Cuda, a ghost town that was destroyed by the Headless Inspectre. The teens took refuge in the last new/currently standing building in the town and treated it as a home away from home. When Stephy was inducted into the group, later becoming their leader, they became active in hunting down the paranormal. They played major roles in most of the episodes, but for the most part acted as recurring characters and comic relief. They returned in The QuaHd, but Stephy and Tammy aren't present in the series. * Stephy Hicks (Kelly Sheridan): Julie's teenaged cousin. Stephy is a cool-collected individual who tries to apply rationality to everything, save for anything in the realm of what the Halloween Kids deal with since she herself was once a figure in it. She disappeared when Julie was eight, where she took part in a fake tutoring job and got turned into a chimera-like monster by her hirer, but upon meeting the Halloween Kids, they restore her to her normal form and reunite her with Julie. Stephy is into martial arts and seems to be into goth culture as well, though she could never bring herself to dress like one. She often gives the kids advice or directly aids them when she's forcibly made part of the problem. The rest of the time she just hangs out with her two best friends. In order to ensure she's more involved with the Halloween Kids when necessary, she took up a tutoring job at Belbury Middle School as a tutor, something the Cudas followed her on. * Nicole Zam (Stacey DePass): A downbeat girl who's into drawing. She hardly speaks and seems to hold contempt for everyone outside of her circle. She has a tendency to criticize whatever plans the Cudas come up with, with most of what she says coming true. Few people seem willing to like her, and are often tempted to annoy her. * Britney Horvath (Rachel Wilson): Into video games and claims to be the only girl to maintain record scores on arcade games. Britney is lazy and is more content with playing video games, which lands her in guarding jobs and, ultimately, leaving her open for attack. She is shown to be able to defend herself, however, just enough to prevent the Cudas from ousting her. * Shane Cooper (Erin Fitzgerald): A semi-goth/punk girl who's always dementedly calm no matter the situation. The others usually rely on her for a plan because they can't think well under pressure, and whatever she comes up with usually only works out of pure luck. * Caleb Walsh (Dan Petronijevic): Best described by the Cudas as the token guy, and their persona non grata. They frequently make fun of him and use him for bait or as a punchline for a physical joke. Prior to joining the group, he was revealed to be a stand-offish jerk and, similar to Damien and the Elites, was brought into the Cudas as punishment for engaging in a criminal act (it's hinted that he was responsible for planning the gas line break in Death by Dance) * Malcom Langley (Yannick Bisson): The only other guy in the group. He's in a relationship with Shane, something that isn't mentioned but shown heavily. He is mostly self-absorbed, though he keeps this to himself. Malcolm is head-strong and defiant per any challenge, always trying to accomplish anything just to look good. He used to be the head of the group until Stephy outbid him, and he somewhat resents her for that. G.R.A.Z. Ghostly Revenge Alliance... Zoinks!. The main antagonists of the series. * Headless Inspectre (Elliot Gould): The Headless Inspectre is the ghost of Blaine Matson, a renowned health inspector from the 1950s. He was killed in 1971 by a vengeful butcher after Blaine gave him a poor review. Prior to this, he practiced heavily in black magic to ensure that he would maintain power and return to humanity in some form were anything to happen to him. Because of this, his severed head became cursed and his spirit roamed free until the Raven Stakes imprisoned it in a book, which Damien freed him from. Blaine's head was buried beneath an oak tree set on the highest point in Woodrot. To whomever reunites his head with his body, he will become their servant, only for the reverse to happen. * Sorrow (Michael Donovan): Ghost of Richard Darsey, the leader of the Raven Stakes. He was the son of the butcher that killed Blaine Matson. Following his father's conviction, Richard walked the line between sanity and insanity, gradually going towards the latter after the Headless Inspectre was discovered. In a misguided attempt at saving his team from death, he tried to get them to slaughter helpless spirits as a distraction, but they saw through it and got sent to the Detendimension while trying to stop the Headless Inspectre. Richard died from cardiac arrest and succumbed to the influence of the Headless Inspectre. * Damien Gordon (Peter Oldring): A former member of the Perrino Elites. He was actually a former target for them, being an annoying bully, and became their slave as punishment for his prior deeds. Damien served as the antagonist of the first episode, where he unwittingly reactivated a transfer mechanism in an arcade cabinet while trying to get a high score. He was hated by the Elites and even the Halloween Kids, with both wasting no time in chastising him for the slightest bout of idiocy. After the first season, Damien disappears, but resurfaces in Later Days, Here I Come, where he attempts to get back in the good graces of the Halloween Kids and the Elites, only to get turned down. He discovers the head of the Headless Inspectre and the book he was imprisoned in (having stolen it from Francis who unknowingly had it) and summons him, later succumbing to the curse and getting killed due to gross incompetence. Other Prominent Charaters * Pamela Hubbard (Tracey Moore): Angela's cousin. Pamela is an optimistic and blissfully ignorant girl who goes through verbal abuse from Angela on a daily basis, though it never really affects her. Pamela is shown to be very bright and resourceful when she needs to be, and Kerry tends to favor her to Angela, which serves as a reason why Angela is so cruel to her. Pamela always forgives Angela because she knows deep down Angela respects her as a part of the family. * Hope Chapley (Ellen Ray Hennessy): The kids' elderly teacher. She is a somewhat strict figure, but holds a lax dialect when the kids argue with one another, allowing her to record them to watch later as a substitute for television. Hope has a relentless one-sided crush on Curtis, maintaining it because she feels guilty over him losing his wife years ago. * Cheryl Kadic: Curtis' estranged wife. She is mentioned frequently in each episode but has never been seen. Details on her life were revealed throughout the series from her childhood to her adult years. As a kid, Cheryl was a tomboyish girl who loved flowers and often picked on Curtis. When she turned 20 she left to join the army but was sent out of the battlefield due to her losing her hand in combat. She took a job as a waitress at a diner and reunited with Curtis, eventually marrying him and birthing Tommy and Marie. Through the influence of the Headless Inspectre, he possessed Cheryl long enough to make Curtis angry with her by spewing hateful remarks at him and made her leave him. Her whereabouts are unknown, but hints show that she is in fact alive, further confirmed by Strange. * Ms. Werzog (David Lander): The school's art teacher and auditorium director. She made the most appearances in the first season, and had very few since then. It's strongly implied that she's actually a man in disguise, and is part of the witness protection program. * Hot Sauce Man (David Arquette): A very prominent background character. He has only spoke in two episodes, and that dialogue, along with his silent interactions always revolve around him getting hot sauce. The series finale shows he may have some kind of godly influence as he implies that the fate of the world depends on him getting his hot sauce or a good reason for not getting it. Episodes *Indicates its an adaptation from one of the books. Pilots Season 0 A series of shorts that aired on Fox Kids and YTV between 1999 and 2000. Season 1 Season 2 Home Media The first season was released on DVD in Canada by KaBoom! Entertainment in 2004. Both seasons were released on DVD in Australia through Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2005.